1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a steering wheel for a marine vessel and, more particularly, to a steering wheel which comprises an integral control device formed within its rim.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many different types of steering wheels are known to those skilled in the art. In addition, various types of control devices can be used in conjunction with the steering wheels. Furthermore, various types of communication bus arrangements are also known to those skilled in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,960, which issued to Arima et al. on Dec. 20, 1983, describes a steering wheel with a switch assembly. A switch support structure is positioned internally of the rim portion of a steering wheel and has incorporated therein a switch assembly including various electric switch units to be manually actuated. It is retained in position independently of the steering wheel and held against rotation with respect to a steering column tube fixed with respect to the body structure of the vehicle and wherein an optical display unit is associated with the switch units or some of the switch units and is securely supported in position in front of the steering wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,592, which issued to Nakazawa et al. on Mar. 25, 1986, describes a steering wheel assembly with a centralized control system. It includes a terminal component such as an input and output member disposed in a center pad of the steering wheel. The terminal component and a computer for controlling the terminal component are disposed at a center pad of the steering wheel, the terminal component being mounted to the center pad in a selectively exchangeable manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,131, which issued to Kidd et al. on Jan. 20, 1987, describes a steering wheel pad keyboard switch assembly. The assembly is mounted on a steering wheel. The preassembled switch assembly comprises a base, a printed circuit board which has an array of open contact grids, an elastomeric switch member which has an array of movable contacts, a guide plate and a push button subassembly. The guide plate has a plurality of guide bosses and guide holes disposed in the same predetermined array for guiding the stem pieces of push buttons into operative contact with the movable contacts of the switch member and a pad portion for supporting a horn switch. The push button subassembly comprises a frame member which is attached to the base to provide the unit handle switch assembly, a plurality of push buttons which are slidably retained in respective slide chambers of the frame and a soft decorative cover which includes a depressable horn switch pad to operate the horn switch and cutouts to provide access to the push buttons. The guide plate and the stem pieces of the push buttons are made of a translucent material and form part of the back lighting system for the push buttons legend.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,461, which issued to Shibata on Feb. 4, 1992, describes an air bag mount device for steering wheel including control switches. It comprises an inflatable air bag body in the air bag unit, an air bag cover provided in the air bag unit for covering the air bag body, a bag storing portion provided in the air bag unit for receiving the air bag body, and a control switch for controlling accessories mounted on a vehicle.
U.S. Pat. D419,507, which issued to Triarsi et al. on Jan. 25, 2000, is a design patent that shows various configurations of a steering wheel having push button shifters.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,600, which issued to Browne et al. on Mar. 7, 2000, describes a turn signal system and method with steering wheel mounted control of conventional and lane shift indications. It utilizes turn selectors located on a steering wheel. The system has right and left turn signal indicator circuits that are each energizable to indicate an intended movement of the vehicle toward the right or left, respectively. A microcontroller controls the energization of the right and left indicator circuits. Each of the right and left selectors is actuatable in a first manner for causing the microcontroller to energize the respective indicator circuit to perform a first indication operation and actuatable in a second manner for causing the microcontroller to energize the respective indicator circuit to perform a second indication operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,268,576, which issued to Onodera on Jul. 31, 2001, describes a switch apparatus for a steering wheel. The switch apparatus is constructed such that a switch body section is mounted within a pad section of a steering wheel, an operating section for driving the switch body section is caused to protrude outwardly of the pad section, and it is made possible to operate the operating section from two directions in such a manner that the same switch signal can be outputted in the operation from either direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,771, which issued to Buckley et al. on Aug. 14, 2001, discloses a control system for a marine vessel. The control system incorporates a marine propulsion system that can be attached to a marine vessel and connected in signal communication with a serial communication bus and a controller. A plurality of input devices and output devices are also connected in signal communication with a communication bus and a bus access manager, such as a CAN Kingdom network, is connected in signal communication with the controller to regulate the incorporation of additional devices to the plurality of devices in signal communication with the bus, whereby the controller is connected in signal communication with each of the plurality of devices on the communication bus.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,607, which issued to Gonring et al. on Jul. 2, 2002, discloses a throttle position sensor with an improved redundancy and high resolution. The sensor is provided with a plurality of sensing elements which allow the throttle position sensor to provide a high resolution output to measure the to physical position of a manually movable member, such as a throttle handle, more accurately than would otherwise be possible. The plurality of sensors significantly increases the redundancy of the sensor and allows its operation even if one of the sensing elements is disabled.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,829, which issued to Despreaux on Apr. 15, 2003, describes a marine steering wheel assembly. It includes a support frame having a preferably annular configuration and further including at least one wheel section. Each wheel section comprises two segments connected to one another and the support frame. Each of the two segments of each wheel section are independently formed to include any one of a plurality of predetermined, decorative surface finishes and are secured to the support frame subsequent to the surface finishing thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,624,365, which issued to Miyako et al. on Sep. 23, 2003, describes a structure for mounting a switch on a vehicular steering wheel. An outer casing of a switch is provided with mounting hooks which are engaged with a core metal of a steering wheel. A lower cover of the steering wheel is provided with retaining portions which are made to abut against the mounting hooks in such a way as to restrain the retaining portions from moving in a direction in which the engagement between the core metal and each of the retaining portions is canceled.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,067, which issued to Adachi et al. on Jul. 27, 2004, describes a switch device in a steering wheel. It includes a front switch assembly and a back switch. The front switch assembly is provided on a front side of the steering wheel that faces the driver and rotates integrally with the steering wheel. The back switch is provided on a back side of the steering wheel. The front switch assembly includes at least one front switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,852,936, which issued to Hayashi et al. on Feb. 8, 2005, describes a switch structure of a steering wheel. It provides a switch structure of a steering wheel at which a pair of opening portions symmetrically formed between an inner periphery of a rim of the steering wheel and an outer periphery of a pad cover, as seen from a vehicle occupant side, at each of which opening portions a switch assembly is formed by a plurality of switches. Arrangement and shape of the plurality of switches constituting each switch assembly are determined so as to be symmetrical with respect to a predetermined base line intersecting the respective opening portions.
The patents described above are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in the description of the present invention.
It would be significantly beneficial if a steering wheel for a marine vessel could be provided in which an operation parameter of the marine vessel could be affected through use of the operator's fingers or grip without requiring that the operator release the rim of the steering wheel.